What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Shell came off after about 6 months of ownership…. Sold it for $600 more than bought it for. My truck feels like a rocket now!

 

@MESO Start Button w/ surround

 

I just did mine today too after a year of it sitting in my drawer

 

Photo Heavy!

Finally getting around to posting some of my favorite pictures from my 7 day Colorado trip (Engineer Pass, Imogene Pass, Cinnamon Pass, Ophir Pass, etc).

Suspension did amazing during this trip and wasn't sagging when loaded up with gear. I played around with the DSC controllers and got it to a point where the ride was very comfortable off-road (caught myself going 30-45mpg on the trail cause It was so soft) Definitely took harder lines than necessary but just wanted to see what the truck could do since the lift, bigger tires + proper armor this time around (and I accidentally passed 30 deg off camber). Dual battery came in clutch since I left my scene lights on for hours (and once all night because I forgot to turn one pair off). CB Radio performed as expected. It rained pretty much everyday and I forgot my awning at home but at least one of our rigs had theirs.

Some things to work on:
- Need to organize my gear so my truck isn't a mess during trips.
- Get an inclinometer. I'm sure the truck can get to 45 degrees without flipping but I would like to know the actual angle.
- Need faster access to first aid kit, cut my hand on the trip and couldn't get to my kit because of all the gear in the back seat.
- Need to re-gear (going with 5.29s). Was mostly in 4th gear on the highway, 5th sometimes but would drop to 4th whenever accelerating. Average mpg was around 11-12.

Overall, pretty happy where the truck sits, functionally and aesthetically. Although, it's about to get crazy in the next couple of months when my front and rear bumpers arrive (after 4-5 months) and for the 5.29 gears get installed.

 

Added some LED bed lights! Super easy install and it didn't even take that long! Plus, they were super bright!

 

New tires
Wednesday gets new air intake
Thursday gets new 270 awning

 

Finally got the JBAs in. My lift makes my tires look smalllllll

 

Tires look awesome. I like the RWL

 

Pardon my stupidity, I'm not familiar with the abbreviation of RWL

 

Raised White Letters

 

Raised White Letters?? Just guessing.

 

Ohhh much appreciated! I just cleaned the blue off this morning. Just takes bleach and water

 

did you notice a difference in capability between the 3 vehicles?

 

Awesome pics!!

Any issues with using only two bars on top of the Diamondback to mount the RTT? I'm thinking of doing the same, but dont like the look of three bars. Any sagging in the tent?

 

now if only she can get get better/more overhead and side lighting then I’ll be there more often.

 

No cup holders though

 

In all honesty, what are those divets going to actually hold? Stop from sliding, sure, but stop from spilling? No way.

 

You would be surprised, they are very effective

 

The GX is on 33s w/ icon suspension, the Jeep JK is on 37s w/ Fox 2.0s (switching to 2.5s in a few months) and the Tacoma is on 33s w/ fox 2.5 DSC w/ RR. Tacoma was lead, GX was 2nd and the Jeep was sweep. The trails we did were Alpine Loop (Cinnamon Pass & Engineer Pass), Ophir Pass, Yankee Boy Basin & Imogene, and some un-named ones to get to camp. We didn't get to do Poughkeepsie Gulch and Black Bear Pass due to the rainy weather.

All 3 rigs did great. The GX and the JK were top heavy (rtt, rotopax, rifle case) so they avoided most of the off-camber lines, although the JK got to ~45 deg when giving space to let some rigs by. The GX did 3 wheel at one point on Imogene. The only issue with the JK was the transmission temps were getting too high at some points of the trip (we think its the gearing, he has 4.88s which was perfect when he was only wheeling, but not so much with all the gear he had for overlanding, plus the JK is only a 4 speed so he was on 3rd gear a lot on the highway and 2nd or 3rd on the steep highway inclines). I didn't have any issues w/ the Tacoma other than not hitting 6th gear on the highway and staying mostly in 4th and sometimes 5th. I took all the lines I wanted with ease and had enough clearance that the hitch mounted waterport didn't drag on the rocks.

IMO,
Wheeling capability, Jeep > Tacoma > GX but it really comes down to the lines that you take and the driver that you are.
Comfort GX > Tacoma > Jeep
Highway GX > Tacoma > Jeep

I've taken that tent on 6 trips now (big ones include big bend, colorado, hot springs ORV park, texas overlanding trail) and no issues so far. I just check the bolts that connect the diamondback to the bed, the legs to the diamondback, the load bars to the legs and the tent bolts after each trip to make sure they didn't loosen themselves out. The tent and load bars do shake on the trail but thats expected since the tent is 125 lbs but I don't really worry about it since I check all the bolts. LLOD on youtube has run the 2 front runner load bars for years and he hasn't had any issues.

And no sagging in the tent so far. I'm 200lbs + the bags I put in when I sleep in there and no issues. I do wish I ordered the 3rd load bar just for peace of mind but I think 2 is fine.

 

From my experience, I use a relay for everything so the switch never carries the actual load. Apparently KC does not share this philosophy.
If the OP has a multimeter (I am guessing no based on the issues that he is having) then the first thing to do would be a current draw test on both the white wires and the red wires going to the lights. That will tell you exactly what is being drawn by each of the two beams. Having a multimeter and knowing how to use it is an awesome asset to have....

I would assume that the Molex plugs that the light harnesses are plugged into are keyed and not reversible, but if somehow the low and high wires were reversed, then it would also explain blowing fuses from overload as well.